Magic Circles

In we discussed some of the reasons Szulborski gives as to why Alternate Reality Games (ARG's) are not real games. One of the reasons was because there was no imaginary playing space, no "magic circle". The "magic circle" is a concept we've obviously discussed earlier this semester, which is pretty much a nickname given to the defined playing space of a game. According to Szulborski, ARG's do not have these circles. However, I would argue that in fact they do only the playing space has expanded much wider and not so defined. Someone could argue that the gaming space is so vague that it really doesn't exist at all but I think that there are limits.  read more »

This week’s discussion about magic circles was very interesting. For one, it was nice to see where each individual draws the line between what the magic circle encompasses, and what is left out of that circle. However, I don't think I was clear in my idea of what the magic circle includes [for me at least], therefore I will, with this blog entry attempt to clarify myself. A magic circle, in my opinion, is the line between the real world and the virtual world. In this case, the real world represents all the activities that are mundane; i.e.: chores, school, work, etc. The virtual world would be considered anything that takes your mind off these mundane activities; i.e.: video games, sports, music etc. Although these two worlds have different purposes and are separate, the magic circle envelops both the real world and the virtual world. The logic behind this idea is that, when we play a video game, Halo [a first person shooter] for example, you [the player] becomes that character - and is mentally removed from the real world.  read more »